6.3 Creating and Editing Server Templates

Server templates are used to define servers for use in consolidation scenarios. You create server templates, each with their own components and utilization thresholds. A common use for server templates is for scale-up or scale-out consolidation scenarios. The created server templates are used as target servers for consolidating workloads.

Click the Components tab, then specify the following on the Components page:

User Interface

Required

Description

Settings

Processor Count

Yes

Total processor count.

Processor Speed

Yes

Instructions per second the server can execute in MHz or GHz. The minimum processor speed you can use is 266 MHz.

Memory

Yes

Memory size for server in MB or GB.

Cores Per Processor

Yes

Number of cores per processor.

CPU Model

Yes

Model of CPU:

Pentium IV

Core

Xeon

Core Xeon

Athlon

Opteron

Intel Nehalem

NOTE:The CPU model for any processor in the Pentium series is shown as Pentium IV. This is based on the normalization speed that is calculated for a series of processors.

Hyper-Threading

No

Specifies if hyper-threading is available.

Normalized Speed

Readonly

A unitless measure of processor capacity. This provides more realistic comparisons across diverse processor architectures.

Memory Size

Yes

The amount of memory to use. The minimum memory size you can use is 256 MB.

Disk Space

Yes

Disk space in GB or TB that is required for the server. Select Unlimited if you are connecting target servers to a SAN or NAS, where disk space is not a limiting factor. If you use Fixed, the minimum amount of disk space you can specify is 1 GB.

Thresholds

Processor

No

Processor utilization. By default, the utilization is set to 80%.

Memory

No

Memory utilization. By default, the utilization is set to 90%.

Disk Space

No

Maximum disk utilization threshold. By default, the utilization is set to 85%.

Disk IO

No

Maximum disk I/O allowed. By default, the Max IO is set to 50 MB/s.

Network IO

No

Maximum network IO. By default, the network IO is set to 10 MB/s.

Thresholds specify the level of utilization the Consolidation Planning Module can assume for the server templates. This affects the outcome of consolidation scenarios; lower utilization thresholds result in more servers being required to host the workloads of a scenario.

For example: workloads requiring 180 GB of memory can be consolidated onto a server with 200 GB of memory if the utilization threshold is set at 90%. However, if the memory utilization threshold is set at 50%, only 100 GB of memory can be used, resulting in fewer workloads being consolidated.

Utilization thresholds are initially set to the defaults listed in the table above and can be customized for specific needs.

Click OK.

The newly created server template is added to the Server Template list.

6.3.2 Editing an Existing Server Template

Click Consolidation, then click Server Templates .

The Server Template Manager dialog box is displayed.

Do any of the following:

Select the server template you want to edit, then click .

Right-click the server template you want to edit, then click Edit.

The Edit Server Template dialog box is displayed.

On the General page, make any desired modifications by using the following information:

User Interface

Required

Description

Name

Yes

Name of the template to be created.

Make

No

Server manufacturer.

Model

No

Server model.

TCO

No

Total cost of ownership.

Rack Units

No

Number of rack units.

Power

No

Power consumption in watts.

Virtualization

Yes

Virtualization platform:

Microsoft Virtual Server

Virtual Iron

VMware ESX

VMware ESX 3

VMware ESX 4

VMware ESX 5

VMware GSX

VMware Server

Citrix XenServer

Microsoft Hyper-V

SLES XenServer

None

Click the Components tab, then make any desired modifications by using the following information:

User Interface

Required

Description

Settings

Processor Count

Yes

Total processor count.

Processor Speed

Yes

Instructions per second the server can execute in MHz or GHz. The minimum processor speed you can use is 266 MHz.

Memory

Yes

Memory size for server in MB or GB.

Cores Per Processor

Yes

Number of cores per processor.

CPU Model

Yes

Model of CPU:

Pentium IV

Core

Xeon

Core Xeon

Athlon

Opteron

Hyper-Threading

No

Specifies if hyper-threading is available.

Normalized Speed

Readonly

A unitless measure of processor capacity. This provides more realistic comparisons across diverse processor architectures.

Memory Size

Yes

The amount of memory to use. The minimum memory size you can use is 256 MB.

Disk Space

Yes

Disk space in GB or TB that is required for the server. Select Unlimited if you are connecting target servers to a SAN or NAS, where disk space is not a limiting factor. If you use Fixed, the minimum amount of disk space you can specify is 1 GB.

Thresholds

Processor

No

Processor utilization. By default, the utilization is set to 80%.

Memory

No

Memory utilization. By default, the utilization is set to 90%.

Disk Space

No

Maximum disk utilization threshold. By default, the utilization is set to 85%.

Disk IO

No

Maximum disk I/O allowed. By default, the Max IO is set to 50 MB/s.

Network IO

No

Maximum network IO. By default, the network IO is set to 10 MB/s.

Thresholds specify the level of utilization the Consolidation Planning Module can assume for the server templates. This affects the outcome of consolidation scenarios; lower utilization thresholds result in more servers being required to host the workloads of a scenario.

For example: workloads requiring 180 GB of memory can be consolidated onto a server with 200 GB of memory if the utilization threshold is set at 90%. However, if the memory utilization threshold is set at 50%, only 100 GB of memory can be used, resulting in fewer workloads being consolidated.

Utilization thresholds are initially set to the defaults listed in the table above and can be customized for specific needs.

Click OK.

6.3.3 Copying a Server Template

Click Consolidation, then click Server Templates .

The Server Template Manager dialog box is displayed.

Do any of the following:

Select the server template you want to copy, then click .

Right-click the server template you want to copy, then click Copy.

The New Server Template dialog box is displayed with prepopulated template information.

Rename the template and make any other required modifications.

Click OK.

The template is copied and is displayed in the Server Template Manager listing.